Flying “FIFI”

Flying

Interview with B-29 First Officer KATHY ROYER

By Marcia K. Gitelman, Spaceport Chapter

The end of WWII was marked by the introduction of the B-29, a four-engine propellor driven aircraft often called the Superfortress. At the time, it was the heaviest and one of the largest airplanes in the U.S. arsenal. A pressurized cabin allowed the B-29 to fly at altitudes up to 31,850 feet and airspeeds of up to 350 mph. Along with other modern aircraft systems, it was considered state-of-the-art technology. There were 3,970 B-29s produced by several aircraft companies. Eventually, they were officially retired, and today only two remain flying, FIFI and DOC. FIFI was acquired by the Commemorative Air Force (CAF) in the early 1970s when a group of CAF members found the plane at the U.S. Navy Proving Ground at China Lake, California. The abandoned B-29 was being used as a missile target, but eventually was rescued and restored. FIFI flew for over 30 years until 2006 when the chief pilot decided to ground her for a power plant re-fit. This became an extensive four-year restoration. FIFI returned to flying status in 2010. Since that time, the plane has traveled from coast to coast attracting large crowds at every tour stop. The B-29 has become a symbol of our freedom and our victory in WWII. Only four women have been fully checked out in the B-29. One of them is a Ninety-Nine, Kathy Royer, who is a fully accredited B-29 first officer.

Marcia Gitelman: What did you do for your initial training in the B-29? I know you are a retired airline pilot, and you are used to heavy equipment. You are a little person. You are not 200 pounds and six feet tall. Was it more difficult for you? Does the B-29 have modern bells, whistles, and trim, or does it require strength?

Kathy Royer: Initial training for the B-29 consisted of attending the Commemorative Air Force (CAF) ground school. Normally it’s a two-to-three-day weekend, but this year it was online due to Covid. I was invited to Meacham International Airport in Fort Worth, Texas (FTW) for an airplane check ride. This consisted of two hours of sitting in the cockpit with the instructor reviewing checklist and emergency procedures. The flight portion consisted of flying from FTW to AFW (Fort Alliance, also in Fort Worth) and return to FTW. On the flight we did a stall series, steep turns, unusual altitude, and an emergency descent. I made a total of three landings, one of which was landing from a simulated engine failure. We also did one go around. All this took 1.8 hours. The B-29 does require some strength. Everything is manual. There is no assist for the flight controls and no nose wheel steering. There is trim for elevator, aileron, and rudder, but

no electric trim. The airplane is very stable and flies nicely above 180 mph. The slower you go the heavier the airplane handles. When you begin a bank, you better be thinking about coming out of the bank because the bank will just keep increasing and then it does require some muscle to level out. Taxiing is interesting. Rudder is ineffective while taxiing so brakes and differential power are used. I found it challenging to be smooth. Taxiing on four engines is much easier than on two since you have better differential power available. A lot of times we taxi with the outboard engines shut down because the airplane is so big and we are not in huge airports where we need to keep from hitting the taxiway lights, especially in northern airports where the taxiway lights are higher due to getting snow. Sometimes you are just tapping on the brakes to get it to turn.

Marcia: What about navigation?

Kathy: For navigation we have updated Garmin products. A Garmin G3X, G5, and two Garmin 650s. These were just upgraded last year. You sit fairly far back from the panel so they can be hard to see clearly. Flying with an iPad makes it much easier.

Marcia: I know you flew a C-47 and two years ago you checked out in the B-24.

Kathy: I flew a C-47 for about two years and then in 2019 I checked out in the B-24. The B-24 and the B-29 are in the same squadron in the Commemorative Air Force. I flew the B-24 for about eight hours. Then came Covid. This year they had me check out in the B-29.

Marcia: What other aircraft have you flown?

Kathy: I retired off the Airbus. I have flown everything from 737 to 747-400. I retired as a captain and check airman from the Airbus. My experience flying a warbird airplane first came with the C-47 which was great experience leading to the B-24 and the B-29.

Marcia: How did you get involved with flying warbirds? Did you contact the Commemorative Air Force and tell them you were interested?

Kathy: I got involved with the C-47 first. That was Placid Lassie which is owned by the Tunison Foundation. That happened at Spruce Creek. A friend who I flew with in a formation group told me about a C-47 he and some other resident pilots would be flying. I went over to see it while they had it parked next to the runway and I met the guys managing and flying the airplane. The airplane was headed to Sun ’n Fun and, if I wanted to get involved, I knew I should show up and help out. That’s exactly what I did. They liked me well enough, so they invited me to check out as a co-pilot. I did that and spent about two years with that airplane, including going to Europe. I wasn’t there for the 75th D-Day memorial, but I was there for the 70th memorial of the Berlin Airlift. After the D-Day adventure, the Tunison Foundation moved Placid Lassie to Connecticut.

Marcia: What happened next?

Kathy: Flying the C-47 got me interested in flying the planes involved in WWII. I was invited to Girl Scout Day in Deland, Florida, to talk about my career. That is a wing of the Florida Commemorative Air Force. When I was done with my presentation, someone suggested I should join the CAF WASP Squadron. I did get involved with the WASP Squadron and became friends with the leader, Ellie Dana. She asked me to be their financial officer. The CAF has meetings once a year in Dallas with the officers of the different squadrons. At that meeting I met Al Benzing from the B-29/B-24 Squadron. He started asking me questions and commenting; “Oh, you flew for the airlines; oh, you flew the C-47; and oh, you have a lot of tail wheel time!” I did, having previously owned a Cessna 180 and now a RV-8. “You should get involved in our squadron,” Al said. I said, “What squadron is that?” He answered the B-29/B-24 squadron. I commented, “You must have a very long list of pilots.” He said, “No, we are looking for pilots and you have the background we are looking for.” Al encouraged me to apply, which I did. I went to the ground school they had that year. They had just checked out a number of first officers on the B-24. I didn’t think I would have an opportunity to fly that summer. But, while I was at Oshkosh in 2019, they needed a first officer to fly the B-24 from La Crosse, Wisconsin, to Lincoln, Nebraska. If I could get to La Crosse I would get my B-24 check out. I had my RV-8 in Oshkosh, so I flew to La Crosse and they checked me out the next day in the B-24. They called me again in a couple of weeks, so I was able

to get more time. This was towards the end of the season. I expected to fly it the next season but then Covid hit. That ended touring for 2020. This year they were moving some guys along on the B-24, so they moved me over to the B-29. I have a lot more time in the B-29 now than I ever got in the B-24. I like both airplanes and they both have traits that are good and not so good. The history of the B-29 though really made that airplane a winner for me. It is certainly a very unique airplane.

Marcia: At that time, you probably didn’t think about the fact that you were the fourth woman to fly the B-29. I know who the first two were: Didi Johnson Moorman and Dora Dougherty Strother. Both were WASPs who flew at the invitation of Paul W. Tibbets Jr., USAF brigadier general and USAF retired. Debbie King was the third. Several other women have flown at the controls while it was in the air but did not receive full checkouts. Now you, Kathy Royer, a Ninety-Nine, are fourth.

Kathy: I may be fourth or fifth. I read Chuck Sweeney. He wrote a book called “War’s End”. In that book he mentioned that on a flight out of Denver, he grabbed a WASP to fly as co-pilot. He needed someone in the seat. I don’t know if she ever checked out in it. Sweeney was the commander that dropped the bomb on Nagasaki. The plane was Bock’s Car.

Marcia: The two women who handled the controls were Micky Axton, a test engineer for Boeing, and the other was Helen Gosnell with Chuck Sweeney.

Marcia: You received all of this great training. What about your tour? What was your favorite experience?

Kathy: My favorite experience was meeting some of the people that buy rides. The bombardier seat, sitting in the nose, is the most expensive. I had a gentleman in Sioux Falls or Janesville ride along–he was so excited. His family had bought him the ride because his father had been a bombardier on the B-29. Another fun experience was at the end of the ride when we showed people around the airplane. One guy sat in the engineer’s seat. He had a picture of his father because he had been an engineer on the B-29. Stuff like that makes it all worthwhile. I enjoy that aspect of it besides, obviously, flying the airplane.

Marcia: What was your worst experience?

Kathy: I have not had any bad experiences. It has all been very positive. I don’t have any really bad stories. Taxiing, for me, has been a little challenging. I am a little jerkier with it than I would like to be. I joke with the guys in back that I expect them to kiss the ground when they get out after I have taxied the plane. Marcia: How about maintenance of the airplane. Were there any issues while you were on tour?

Kathy: There were a few little issues, but nothing that you would not expect on an older airplane. We carry our own engineer. He is an excellent mechanic and there are usually a couple of other mechanics around that help out to maintain the airplane.

Marcia: Are you going to be going on any other tours? Next year?

Kathy: I don’t know. If I get invited I will and I certainly hope so. I spent a total of 4 weeks on tour this summer and thoroughly enjoyed it.

Marcia: Do you have any additional comments?

Kathy: I want to express what an honor it has been to fly the B-29. When I think of the history of the airplane and the difficulty the crews endured when flying on those long missions from the Marianas to Japan and back, it makes me appreciate the opportunity I had this summer to keep their story alive. Yes, I hope I can do this again next summer and I look forward to talking to the people who come out to see FIFI.